A bereaved mother waved a photo of her dead son as she challenged Bill
Rammell, the Armed Forces Minister, to raise pay for soldiers in Afghanistan.

Sarah Adams, mother of James Prosser, the 218th soldier to be killed in Afghanistan, at the time described as a "brave Welsh warrior", said her son was paid £1,260 a month, while he paid tax, national insurance and life insurance.

On BBC's Question Time, filmed in Wootton Bassett, the town where the bodies of servicemen who have died in Afghanistan have been repatriated, asked Mr Rammell why he was paid so much more.

"Why are they not paid what they're worth," she said. "These boys work 24/7 and they are paid £1,260 a month, a private's wage, that is what they get. They have to pay tax, they have to pay national insurance, they have to pay their own life insurance. There are some soldiers who have children, wives, they can't afford to pay that life insurance."

Mr Rammell responded: "No salary could be good enough for someone who puts their life on the line" but added the government had tried to improve the pay of the Armed Forces every year.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former Chief of the General Staff and another panelist on the show, said although pay was an issue, the wider issue was that the Army was a job soldiers chose.

"The satisfaction of knowing we're doing something important, that we're doing it well and that we're doing it for the safety of our fellow citizens, I think that's almost as important," he said "I think that's what really motivates our people. I think your point is well made but it's more than pay, it's actually a job we find real satisfaction in doing in the best interests of the nation."

Pte Prosser, 21, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh, was caught in a blast in September while driving a Warrior vehicle in the Musa Qal'eh district of northern Helmand Province.